


I Couldna See Ye Scarred

by LeviSqueaks



Category: Lord John Series - Diana Gabaldon, Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Biting, Caught, Homophobia, M/M, Oral Sex, Slurs, Take Me Instead Square, Whipping, in jail because we couldn't keep our hands off each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23306488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeviSqueaks/pseuds/LeviSqueaks
Summary: When John and Jamie are found in an indecent act, Jamie sacrifices himself to save John from being whipped.
Relationships: Jamie Fraser/Lord John Grey
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Outlander Bingo Challenge





	I Couldna See Ye Scarred

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @iihappydaysii for the prompt!

Lord John William Grey knew, without a doubt, that his proclivities would eventually put him in harm's way. How could they not? With his penchant for men and the world being the unforgiving mistress it was, he was bound to be caught and disgraced someday. Lady Luck could not always be counted upon and he had pressed her graciousness falling apart on Hector in grief on the battlefield. Hal had saved him then, from utter disgrace and ruin, and he had learned to hide himself away, to pretend well that he longed for the tender touches of a woman. 

But he was not always so good at maintaining his mask when his heart was involved. 

A good fuck was well and grand, but when his heart began yearning, when the swell of passion took him? He was a pitiful fool bound for damnation and lust with no end in sight. Such has been his curse since he first met James Fraser. Fraser. That infernal Scot whose countenance and stunted emotional state lent him to burn with fiery affection one moment, then run cold as ice the next. Damn him and damn John’s own heart for getting him into this mess. 

When they had attended Jocasta Cameron’s wedding, John’s head had spun. To see Jamie’s eyes trail down his body as he teased John about the women was more than he could bear. It sent his heart trembling with a desperate need to feel the man’s hands where his eyes had trailed. So after too much whiskey and a rush of courageous ambition, he managed to corner Jamie away from the partygoers, locking them both in the Library and throwing himself against the taller man to kiss him desperately. 

“John! What are ye doing, man?” Jamie protested against John’s lips before John ghosted kisses across his neck and moaned when Jamie’s hands suddenly seized his back. “Christ ye fool, ye ken it will be the rope for the both of us if we are caught?” Jamie asked before turning to shove John against the bookcase and kissed him deeply. John arched up into the kisses, whimpering when Jamie lifted him so effortlessly into his arms so that John could wrap his legs around the taller man’s hips. 

The worries of being careful, safe, discrete all dashed upon the swelling need in John’s body and he groaned aloud as Jamie hastily tugged open his coat and yanked at his cravat in order to bite harshly down upon his shoulder, ushering a wail from John’s throat. A large hand clamped over his mouth as he heaved and whimpered, rutting up against Jamie like an untameable dog in heat. “Quiet man, or ye will get us both shot,” Jamie cautioned as he kissed the reddened wound and John reached down with trembling hands, ignoring the flash of Hector’s ring to open Jamie’s breeches, a hand shoving inside insistently so he could feel Jamie’s length. 

“Christ above, Jamie. Put me down, I need you,” John insisted firmly as he tried to shove them down, wiggling in the Scot’s arms so he could get to his knees and taste the other man. He wanted it all, wanted Jamie sprawled across the divan so that he could ride him filthily. He wanted to take his time with him. But Fate and Time were both cruel mistresses with tight leashes and John recognized he would need to settle instead for a taste of the forbidden. “I want you in my mouth, Jamie,” he insisted harshly as he slipped down and fell to his knees in front of him. 

“Christ alive, John. Ye have the devil inside of ye,” Jamie groaned as his hand came down to hold John’s hair, petting it lightly as his head tilted back in pleasure as his cock was enveloped in a hot, sinful heat. It went on for eternity or only a moment, neither man could tell with the pleasure coursing through them both. Then John pulled back with a firm suckle and Jamie groaned aloud when the door burst open and three men stumbled in, eyes lit with the fire of fury and righteousness. John pulled away against the tightening of Jamie’s hand, face paling in fear as they took in the debauchery before them and then the first man’s eyes narrowed as John quickly stood, hiding Jamie as he quickly fastened his breeches. 

“What the devil is going on here? Sodomite!” Forbes snarled as he took in John. “To have your way spoiling an honest man like this? We’ll show you what happens to the bastards like you,” he threatened as he and Arbuckle moved forward to grip each of John’s arms tightly. 

Duncan Innes stared at John, a shiver running down his spine from the cold stare before his eyes turned to Jamie. Two red spots of fury rose on his cheeks that had John’s heart seizing even as he tried to yank away from the men holding fast to his arms. “Mac Dubh? Ye let the wee bastard have his way with ye like this?” He swallowed and turned to glare at John, a surprising amount of vitriol in his tone, “how long have you been bedeviling Mac Dubh? Since Ardsmuir?” he demanded. He shook his head and spat at John’s feet, “take him out back, whip him in the slave’s yard,” he instructed the men. 

John’s heart sank with the words as he felt the others yank fiercely on his arms as he was dragged to the door, he dug his heels in desperate not to be exposed to the rest of the guests and Forbes turned to sink a fist in his gut. It burned like fire and the agony of it made John’s head swim as he gagged uselessly against the pain, trying and failing to drag air back to his lungs. 

Suddenly, his left arm was yanked furiously and he looked up, wheezing to see Jamie dragging Forbes away furiously. “Nay!” he demanded and glared down at the three of them fiercely, “nay, it wasna him who is the sodomite. I forced mysel' on him. If ye are to whip someone for buggery it ought be the right man.” Jamie said it cooly but his eyes were wide with fear and mania and John wondered in that instant if Jamie hadn’t gone mad. 

“Jamie,” he gasped but Jamie glared so fiercely down at him that John felt the words dying on his tongue in response. Christ, this man. Was he really going to do this? John feared the whip and the shame above all else, but he wasn’t ready to see the man he loved whipped in his place. 

“Take them both,” Duncan told the men and then turned around to march out of the room. 

“DUNCAN INNES,” Jamie thundered behind him and the ferocity of it had John swaying where he stood, heart rabbiting in his chest as if it were to leap out at any moment and leave him to expire in its wake, “Twasna Grey who acted sinfully, ye wilna whip an innocent man.” Jamie’s words were so final that Duncan’s eyes dropped from Jamie to John. John’s stomach twisted at the hatred he could see there. 

“They’ll take the both o’ ye, and he’ll watch ye have your back torn to shreds, Mac Dubh,” Innes said quietly as he stared Jamie down, “and maybe it will teach the Laird not to let a sodomite lead him to the devil.” John felt bile rise in his throat as Innes left to distract the guests. John felt the grips on his arms tightened and he was dragged off, Jamie following and then suddenly passing and leading Forbes and Arbuckle there. How was it that Jamie could stand straight and tall, so proud, even when he was leading them to his own torture? 

John seemed to be lost in an ocean of fear and dread. It was if the world around him was muted while he stood frozen in horror as Jamie quickly undressed from his frock and shirt, cravat joining the materials which Arbuckle roughly shoved into John’s arms. He clung to it. Jamie’s scent wafting up from the fabric made his heart ache as he watched, feet leaden and voice strangled while they strung Jamie up to the post, a few slaves peeking out in interest or horror. 

Jamie turned, eyes meeting John’s as the first crack ripped through the air and Jamie’s face fell into agony. John felt as if the world was spinning on its axis and he fell to his knees, tears welling in his eyes. Jamie grit his teeth as the next crack sounded, ripping through John’s soul as he watched a long bloody line appear across Jamie’s damaged back. Another. Another. Another. Each falling heavily across Jamie’s back and shredding skin. John wept, then yelled, finally begging them to stop as the tenth slice wretched a grunt from Jamie, hands white where they gripped the ropes holding him captive. 

“Please, God Please… stop,” John begged them as one last crack landed and finally the whip fell. Forbes pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed his brow before spitting down in between John and Jamie. Jamie was swaying in the hold of the rope and John could see that he was close to losing consciousness. 

“Dirty Sodomites,” Arbuckle sneered as he and Forbes walked away. 

As soon as they were out of sight John lurched forward to untie Jamie. “Christ Jamie… Why did you do that?” John babbled the question as he tried to steady the taller man, conscious of the blood seeping into his arm and the pained moan that Jamie gave as he struggled against the pressure across new cuts. 

“I couldna see ye whipped John,” Jamie managed softly as he sat on a nearby stump. “I can bear a great many things, ye ken it well. But I couldna see ye scarred and hurt that way.” 

John swallowed back the demand to know why Jamie thought John could bear it any better. Instead, he just gingerly lay a hand on his shoulder. “Come, we should get back, Phaedra can find us some rags to clean you up,” he suggested quietly. 

Jamie nodded with a soft sigh as he gingerly dragged his shirt on, leaving the rest of his finery to John as they quietly made their way back to the house.


End file.
